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| November 25, 2005 |
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| ADB $1 Billion Program |
WASHINGTON - November 25, 2005. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to spend nearly $1 billion over the
next three years on projects aimed at developing closer regional
cooperation, the Manila-based bank said Thursday, reports Agence France
Presse (11/23).
The $952 million project is part of the bank's Central Asia Regional
Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program, which was approved earlier this
month. CAREC will focus on transport, energy and trade in the 2006-2008
program, which includes 16 major projects totaling $943 million and 13
technical assistance projects totaling $9 million. The CAREC Program is an
alliance comprising eight countries -- Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan -- and six
multilateral institutions: ADB, European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, International Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank, United
Nations Development Program and World Bank. CAREC aims to promote economic
growth and raise living standards by encouraging regional economic
cooperation.
UzReport.com (Uzbekistan, 11/23) further writes that despite rapid
economic growth across Central Asia in recent years, particularly due to
strong global economic growth and increased energy exports, the region
still faces serious poverty. While per capital incomes and employment have
increased, income disparities have widened sharply. "CAREC…aims to
transform the region from one that is landlocked to one that is
land-linked so that regional trade, transport, and transit costs are not
serious impediments to development, and participating countries can share
vital resources, particularly energy and water, more efficiently," Adrian
Ruthenberg, Director for ADB's East and Central Asia operations
coordination division stated.
The transport projects planned for 2006-2008 include the rehabilitation of
regional railways in Uzbekistan, improvement of the southern corridor in
Azerbaijan, development of a western regional road corridor in Mongolia,
and rehabilitation of the Dushanbe-Kyrgyz border road. Planned energy
projects include improvement of regional gas transmission networks,
rehabilitation of power supply in Tajikistan, rehabilitation of the
Central Asia-Central Europe gas pipeline, and power interconnection
projects.
Source: The World Bank |
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